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Holland & Barrett's alternative to wet wipes.

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UK store Holland & Barrett have become the first high street chain to end the sale of wet wipes as they announce their green initiative.

The health food shop will remove all 34 products in its wet wipe range from its 800 UK and Ireland stores from the end of September as part of efforts to limit the damage they cause to water systems.

Holland & Barrett plan to replace the wet wipes with sustainable, waste-free and reusable alternatives such as double-sided cotton cloths, unbleached cotton muslin cloths, cotton pads and an exfoliating mitt.

Millions of wet wipes are sold in the UK every year, with uses ranging from make-up removal and hand sanitisers to surface cleaners, with increasing numbers causing problems in sewers and waterways.

Volunteers for the Marine Conservation Society's annual beach clean last year found an average of 12 wet wipes per 100 metres of beach cleaned and surveyed, an increase of more than 300% in the last decade.

Sewer-blocking fatbergs, which are mainly caused by a build-up of wet wipes, oils and grease into a solid mass, have also increased in frequency in recent years.

Industry body Water UK has introduced a "fine to flush" symbol for wet wipe products that have passed testing confirming that they do not contain plastic and will break down in the sewer system.

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First UK store to get rid of wet wipes as Holland & Barrett announces green initiative

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UK store Holland & Barrett have become the first high street chain to end the sale of wet wipes as they announce their green initiative.

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A petition to ban wet wipes.

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Petitions - UK Government and Parliament

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Petition: Ban the sale of wet wipes that have "flushable" on the packet.

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According the the BBC,"All wet wipes sold as flushable in the UK have failed the industrys disintergration test". "Flushable" wet wipes cause 80% of blockages in sewers and cost around £100m a year. This money could be reinvested into our ageing infrastructure and could prevent more ocean pollution

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The extent of the problem.

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Household wet wipes will be banished in the UK as part of Michael Gove's crackdown on plastic being thrown away and damaging ecosystems, the government has said.

If they are outlawed, shoppers will no longer be able to buy the wipes, which are mostly made of polyester and contain millions of microfibres impregnated with chemicals.

Tens of thousands of wet wipes are sold in Britain each year, and despite public awareness campaigns, many are still flushed into lavatories, where they end up clogging mains sewers, and go on to kill fish in rivers and other marine life as the fibres are released.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "As part of our 25-year environment plan, we have pledged to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, and that includes single-use products like wet wipes.

"We are continuing to work with manufacturers and retailers of wet wipes to make sure labelling on packaging is clear and people know how to dispose of them properly - and we support the industry's efforts to make their customers aware of this important issue."

She declined to say whether this meant it would become illegal to buy or sell wet wipes or when the measure would begin.

​Defra said it is still considering new taxes to reduce the amount of single-use plastics wasted.

Wet wipes, which contain plastic, slowly break down into microplastics that are then ingested by marine life, with deadly consequences.

Mr Gove, the environment secretary, has decided to clamp down after a group that cleans up rivers last week revealed that wet wipes were changing the shapes of river beds.

Thames21 found more than 5,000 of them alongside the Thames in an area half the size of a tennis court.

Members retrieved 5,453 wet wipes last month in an area in west London - an increase of nearly 1,000 on last year's total. They said similar accumulations were happening in rivers nationwide.

It also follows complaints from water and sewage companies and the Environment Agency. In December, Water UK, which represents water and sewerage companies, announced that the biggest ever in-depth investigation of sewer blockages found wet wipes being flushed down toilets were the greatest culprit.

It said sewer blockages added £100m to water bills each year.

Wet wipes also contribute to giant "fatbergs", giant congealed lumps of fat and rubbish in sewer systems - of which there are believed to be at least 12 under just London now.

In an attempt to stem the tide of damage caused by plastic, the UK has already:

banned microbeads, which kill marine life

introduced a 5p plastic bag charge

signalled a ban on the sale of plastic straws, stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds

and announced a new deposit-return scheme for plastic bottles.

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Household wet wipes will be banished in the UK as part of Michael Gove's crackdown on plastic being thrown away and damaging ecosystems, the government has said. If they are outlawed, shoppers will no longer be able to buy the wipes, which are mostly made of polyester and contain millions of microfibres impregnated with chemicals.

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The effects the chemicals can have.

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Wet wipes, used for sticky fingers and removing eye make-up, as well as on other parts of the anatomy, could themselves be wiped out over the next couple of decades.

The government says its plan to eliminate plastic waste "includes single use products like wet wipes".

The wipes contain non-biodegradable plastic.

So manufacturers will either have to develop plastic-free wipes or consumers will have to go without.

Wet wipes are behind 93% of blockages in UK sewers, a key element of the infamous giant obstacles known as fatbergs, according to Water UK, the trade body representing all of the main water and sewerage companies in the country.

That has prompted the government and industry to focus on persuading consumers not to flush them into the waste water system.

"We are continuing to work with manufacturers and retailers of wet wipes to make sure labelling on packaging is clear and people know how to dispose of them properly," a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment (Defra) said.

However, Defra says it is also "encouraging innovation so that more and more of these products can be recycled and are working with industry to support the development of alternatives, such as a wet-wipe product that does not contain plastic and can therefore be flushed".

Reality check: What is a fatberg?

Despite the name, fatbergs are actually mainly made up of wet wipes. They account for a startling 93% of the material blocking our sewers according to Water UK, the membership body for water providers.

They collected samples to analyse from blockages in sewers, pumps and wastewater treatment works.

Wet wipes - mostly baby wipes, but also those used to remove make up and clean surfaces - made up the vast majority of the material.

Fat, oil and grease only made up 0.5%.

The other 7% was made up of a range of other materials including feminine hygiene products, cotton pads and plastic wrappers.

Toilet paper made up just 0.01% of the material blocking our pipes and sewers.

Environmental charities including Greenpeace and the Marine Conservation Society say they are not surprised by this high number, since wet wipes are often marketed as "flushable".

The wet-wipe industry has flourished over the last decade with manufacturers offering an ever broader range of wipes, for sensitive skin, babies' bottoms, removing make-up, applying insect repellent, deodorant or sunscreen. However most are made of polyester and other non-biodegradable materials.

One manufacturer, Jeremy Freedman, managing director of Guardpack, has written to his MP to say banning them would be environmentally disastrous.

Mr Freedman told the BBC what he saw as their benefits: "If you go to TGI Friday and Nando's, for example, you'll see our products there.

"These wipes are biodegradeable, take 3ml of liquid on average. If they weren't able to use these, they would need to wash their hands, using on average one litre of water.

"They are also widely used in the medical industry and, for people with incontinence and disabled people, these wipes are critical to their lifestyle."

He said many of the wipes he produced were made of 100% biodegradable materials, but warned they were under no circumstances flushable.

Defra is in the process of exploring how changes to the tax system or charges could be used to reduce the amount of single-use plastics wasted.

Prime Minister Theresa May pledged in January to eradicate all "avoidable plastic waste" by 2042.

The government has also said it will consult over whether or not to ban plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers.

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Wet wipes, used for sticky fingers and removing eye make-up, as well as on other parts of the anatomy, could themselves be wiped out over the next couple of decades. The government says its plan to eliminate plastic waste "includes single use products like wet wipes". The wipes contain non-biodegradable plastic.

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What the government is planning to do about the problem.

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There are calls for Wales to consider banning non-biodegradable wet wipes and urgently fund more research into microplastics in rivers.

A new report by AMs has accused ministers of "not getting to grips with the scale of the problem".

It says new targets are needed for tackling plastic waste, similar to those in place to cut carbon emissions.

The Welsh Government said it was already acting on many of the report's recommendations.

Welsh Water said non-biodegradable wet wipes were causing 2,000 sewage blockages in Wales each month.

After carrying out an inquiry into plastic, the assembly's climate change committee said it had been "disappointed" by the actions ministers had taken so far.

Plastics 'in food chain'

It called for a "comprehensive, ambitious 10-year strategy" to be put together and implemented.

"We shouldn't wait for others and must take the lead where we can," the committee's chair, Labour AM Mike Hedges, said.

"The public are supportive - we must harness their energy and enthusiasm and bring forward ambitious and transformative policies."

Plastics do not biodegrade - but break down over time into smaller and smaller fragments known as micro or nano plastics.

They have been found in the soil, rivers and sea - and are known to be ingested by organisms throughout the food chain.

The committee said it had been shocked to be presented with research by Cardiff University which found half of all insects in the Taff river system contained plastic.

Steve Ormerod, who led the work, told the inquiry "densities of plastic particles on the river bed sometimes can be as much as 0.5 million particles per square metre.

"That's much, much more plastic than, in fact, the living organisms present on the bed of the river."

Other recommendations include a deposit return scheme for "the broadest variety" of drinks containers as well as extended producer responsibility rules so that manufacturers shoulder more of the cost of dealing with their products after they have been used.

It also suggests bringing in a plastic packaging tax as a financial incentive to use recycled plastics instead of new ones.

Reduce and reuse

While the AMs said the Welsh Government should be praised for its very high recycling rates and for being the first UK nation to put a levy on single-use shopping bags, they claimed overall progress on tackling plastic waste had been "lacking".

A focus on reducing and reusing goods should be urged, they said - with recycling being a last resort.

A deposit return scheme has yet to be implemented in Wales, despite funding being allocated, and although research had been commissioned on extended producer responsibility rules there has been no announcement yet about whether they would be brought in.

"Stakeholders are, understandably, concerned about this apparent inertia," the report concluded.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said it was already acting on many of the recommendations, including work on a deposit return scheme and banning a range of single-use items.

"We are ambitious about tackling waste and increasing recycling and we share the public's enthusiasm to do more," the spokesperson said.

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There are calls for Wales to consider banning non-biodegradable wet wipes and urgently fund more research into microplastics in rivers. A new report by AMs has accused ministers of "not getting to grips with the scale of the problem". It says new targets are needed for tackling plastic waste, similar to those in place to cut carbon emissions.